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Massive Oil Spills Stain Louisiana
Gulf Coast, United States
Hurricane Katrina hit oil facilities along the Mississippi River and in the Gulf of Mexico with full force. As of September 19, over 7.4 million gallons of oil had leaked from refineries, tanks, and offshore rigs.
Collectively, the Katrina leaks are among one of the nation’s largest oil spill events. As a comparison, 11 million gallons of oil drained from the Exxon Valdez tanker into Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989.
Though cleanup is well underway, the Katrina spills are polluting towns and waterways. The future effects on ecosystems are unknown at this stage.
Image Credits
Gulf coast–NASA MODIS
Oil spill locations–US Coast Guard
Point a la Hache, LA–DEQ Louisiana
Meraux, LA–DEQ Louisiana
Venice, LA –US Coast Guard/Robert M. Reed
Data Sources:
- US Coast Guard Hurricane Katrina Incident Management Sitehttp://www.uscgstormwatch.com/external/index.cfm?cid=1008
- Louisiana Department of Environmental Qualityhttp://www.deq.state.la.us/
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyhttp://www.epa.gov/
- NRDC: As Katrina Oil Spills Mount, Congress Calls for More Coastal Drillinghttp://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/050915.asp